Food Blogger’s Meet in Minneapolis

This week we had a Food Blogger’s Meet in Minneapolis. The Facebook group Fortify: a Food Community is specially dedicated to food lovers in MN and the group includes food bloggers to food enthusiasts to cafe/restaurant owners, celebrity chefs, featured authors, local farmers etc,  all based out of Minnesota.  And when I came to know that we had an event in May , I knew I had to be there. 

A room full of like-minded and foodie-minded people, we were a fun and chatty group. Everyone was really friendly and though I didn't get a chance to go say Hello to everyone, I did meet a few very nice people and everyone had a great time.

As it was on a working day for me, I forgot to take my camera (though we were encouraged to do so) , so I just took a few snaps on my Iphone which I’m sharing here.

The meet was at the Lynn on Bryant, a local bistro serving up some very unique and different fusion food using all fresh ingredients for the local farmers around and the ambiance was simple and cheerful. It was a charity event and the money raised from the event was fully contributed to the Daily Diner Frogtown.

We were served some amazing samplers from their daily menu, I have no much clue about the names of the dishes but they were different and tasty and if you live here in MN I highly encourage you to go and try this place out.

There was house-made bread, different kinds of Pâté,  assorment of cheeses, dried black grapes and relishes, fritters and dips, bite sized samplers of their veggie burger (which was my fav) and many more dishes which was brought in fresh and hot from the kitchen.   

And of course, it was Happy hour , so there was Wine and drinks. I had some white wine!!

And yes, there was dessert….a really classy looking one that too. I tasted lemon curd for the first time and I’m telling you I’m in love with it. The lemon curd was served with Crème fraîche with a lavender infused flavor. And there was panacotta served with Rhubharb topped with mint ..the names of these desserts were really classy and I wish I could remember them, but that’s a reason for me to go there again and try them again isn’t it :-)

Oh! and that's Chef Peter who is the mastermind behind all the gorgeous food and he talks a little bit about the Lynn and its menu and various services provided.  

And I actually got a chance to step inside a restaurant kitchen :-) It was so neat and tidy, inspite of all the cooking that happened just a few minutes before I took this snap.

In all it was super fun and I got to know so many food bloggers now in MN and can't wait to check out their blogs. I’m thrilled that I got to go for such an event and definitely looking forward to more events.

As for this weekend, we are going on a short trip with friends and we're definitely planning to have some fun :-) I wish you all a very happy weekend! 

-Manju

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes and a Food Blogger Bake Sale

Last Saturday we had the 4^th Annual  Food Blogger Bake Sale. Food bloggers and non-bloggers alike participated in the charity event, the proceedings of which will benefit the No Kid Hungry program, an organization dedicated to ending child hunger in America. It was a country wide bakesale and several states across America held the Bake Sale in their respective cities on Saturday May4th,2013.

Ever since I heard of the event I knew I wanted to participate. This year the bake sale was co-ordinated by Lisa who blog’s at Delightfully Midwestern and she sent us out emails regarding the event. We had to bake and package the goodies and bring it over to the venue, where it would then be priced and arranged for the bake sale.

I had instantly decided that I would make Cupcakes and Cookies and decided on my most favorite cake flavor Chocolate-Banana for the cupcakes with both vanilla and chocolate buttercream frosting and favorite Chocolate-chip Cookies.

Let’s begin with these cupcakes shall we? This is the exact same cake recipe I used for the Baby Crib Cake and also for Manav’s First b’daycake and you have no idea how people have raved about the unique flavor and texture of this cake. 
Moist and crumbly, dark and chocolaty with a hint of banana flavor,  its perfect. It’s the easiest cake recipe ever and requires no fancy equipment’s - just the ingredients, two bowls and a whisk - that’s it!

I always use Chocolate buttercream as a pair for this cake but it goes really well with Vanilla buttercream as well.  Again this buttercream recipe is a keeper you guys!

I used Wilton 1M tip to pipe the buttercream in a rose pattern and a swirly pattern and jazzed up the Vanilla frosting with sprinkles and sugar crystals and kept the Chocolate buttercream frosting plain and simple. (Recipe shared at the end)

Now let me share a few tid-bits about my prep work for the bake sale apart from baking the goodies.

We were asked to label the goodies and were encouraged to put on our blog’s name on them , so I hand-made these lables on MS Word using the yellow-white polka dot background (which is my blog’s current background) , printed them out and hand-cut each one of them. 
These took me more time and effort than baking the goodies and Manish helped a lot with the technicalities. Thank’s hubby!  What do you think? :-) 

I packaged the cupcakes individually by placing them in plain transparent 9 oz party cups , covered them with transparent bags (treat bags) and tied them with ribbon along with my labels.  And my Chocolate-chip Cookies…two big cookies in a bag! My dad also helped me in packaging these :-)

Lisa was there at the venue along with few volunteers. That’s me posing with a weird smile and writing pricing stickers to put on the goodies. We didn't stay there for long as Lisa had enough volunteers to help her with the bake sale. 

In all my excitement I forgot to take any snaps of the other goodies and I'm still waiting for the pics that Lisa said she took. I will update it here once she shares them. In all we raised around $900 ...yaay!

I had a good time baking, decorating, packaging, labeling , pricing, photographing etc :-) and I do hope some of you who live in MN had stopped by and donated to the event by buying some of the goodies.  

The recipe  for Chocolate-Banana cake can be made into a 9x13 (quarter Sheet) cake or a 10” cake or  two 6” cakes or 24 regular sized cupcakes and I speak by experience on all the cake sizes as I’ve made them all with this cake recipe , of course baking time will vary for each. I only used half the amount to make chocolate buttercream as I didn't need the whole amount.

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes

Recipe source: Joy of Baking

You’ll need

Cake flour* - 1¾  cups (245 grams)

Granulated white sugar - 2 cups (400 grams)

Unsweetened Cocoa powder - ¾ cup (75 grams)

Baking powder – 1½  tsp

Baking soda - 1½ tsp

Salt – a pinch or ¼ tsp

Large Eggs - 2

Mashed ripe Bananas (2 medium bananas) - 1 cup

Warm Water - 1 cup (240 ml)

Milk - ½ cup (120 ml)

Canola oil (or any flavorless oil) - ½ cup (120 ml)

Pure Vanilla extract - 1½  tsp

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Place cupcake liners in the cupcake pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed bananas, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined. You will notice that the batter is quite thin.

5. Using an icecream scoop or small ladle, fill the cupcake liners about  ¾ full.

6. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway (at around 9 or 10 minutes) through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

7. Let cool in the pans 3-5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. ( If left within the pan for too long the cupcake will continue to cook with the heat of the pan and may become less moist)

*{ 1 cup Cake Flour = ¾ th cup APF + 2 tblsp cornstarch } 

  

Vanilla and Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

(Both recipes  yields 2-3 cups of frosting)

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Recipe source : Savory Sweet Life
You’ll need

Unsalted Butter , at room temp – 1 cup (that’s  2sticks or ½ pound)

Powdered sugar or Confectioners’ sugar (sifted) – 3 or 4 cups

Pure Vanilla Extract – 1 tblsp

Milk or heavy cream – 4 tblsp or as needed

Salt – a pinch (optional)

Directions

1.Beat butter until smooth and creamy using a paddle attachment on medium speed if using KitchenAid mixer or using electric hand blender.

2. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar , little at a time on low speed, until it mixes well with the butter.

3. Increase the speed to medium and add Vanilla extract, salt (if using) and 4 tblsp of milk/heavy cream. Combine well for few minutes until smooth and creamy. 

(If you want a thicker frosting add remaining 1 cup sugar. If you want a thinner consistency add more milk 1 tblsp at a time )

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Recipe source : Savory Sweet Life
You’ll need

Unsalted Butter , at room temp – 1 cup (that’s  2sticks or ½ pound)

Powdered sugar or Confectioners’ sugar (sifted) – 3 ½  cups

Cocoa powder (sifted) – ½ cup

Pure Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp

Milk or heavy cream – 4 tblsp or as needed

Salt – a pinch (optional)

Directions

1.Beat butter until smooth and creamy using a paddle attachment on medium speed if using KitchenAid mixer or using electric hand blender.

2. Sift 3 cups of powdered sugar and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and slowly add in to the butter, mixing on low speed until everything mixes well.

3. Increase the speed to medium and add Vanilla extract, salt (if using) and 4 tblsp of milk/heavy cream. Combine well for few minutes until smooth and creamy.

(If you want a thicker frosting add remaining  ½  cup sugar. If you want a thinner consistency add more milk 1 tblsp at a time )

Mother's Day is this Sunday, May 12th, so make this cake as your special treat to your mom and trust me you both are gonna love it. Happy Mother's Day in advance to all the wonderful mommy's out there...you are the best!

Another cool thing I wanted to share was my blogger friend Jehanne's  Mother's Day newsletter. She was so kind enough to share my Mini Bundt Apple pie in the apple love section. I absolutely loved the newsletter and I bet you will too.  Check it out here and give her some comment love will you :-)

-Manju

Kerala style Chicken Dry Roast ....daddy special :-)

Hiya all…how have you all been? Looks like it has stopped snowing here and we’re hoping for some much deserved warm climate . We’re enjoying our backyard to the fullest. A week back we planted some plantlings and also bought some Roses and herbs and we are enjoying seeing them grow slowly and Lil’Appu can’t have enough of playing with the watering hose. The first time he held it, he sprayed water all over himself and din’t like it at all…he said ‘ot’ when the cold water hit his face :-) H  He can’t seem to tell the difference between hot and cold, if it feels hot he says ‘ot’ and if it’s cold he still says ‘ot’…I guess for him saying Hot is easier than saying Cold…Oh well! ;-)

Coming to today’s special recipe. It’s a Kerala style chicken dry roast and guess who made it? – my dad! Daddy (ya I call him daddy n not Dad) has an excellent taste when it comes to cooking.  Nothing fancy or anything, but whatever it is that he cooks always tastes great. He’s the youngest son in his family and remembers having a good time helping out his mom and sisters while they cooked. During his childhood he was always the vegetable peeler, non-veg chopper, coconut scraper and taste tester in the house it seems and he loves his Kerala food to be authentic and simple. Having lived as a bachelor for few years before marriage, he learnt to cook by himself and makes some excellent Keralite dishes. 

So last week when Manish and I returned home from work, what do we smell in the kitchen?…the lovely aroma of Chicken curry mmmmmmm and there were fresh made chapathis too!

I was so hungry I just took a chapathi and dug into it straight from the cooked pan itself and gave some to Manish as well and boy was it awesome, spicy with a dry gravy and lots of coconut slices (thenga kothu) for some crunch. That’s when daddy came in and asked ‘how’s my chicken curry?’ :-) and mummy starts murmuring ‘the spices n all were my measurements ok’!! Anyway I’m gonna give credits to my dad for this dish b'coz he did make it, with some help from mummy and this was a dish that just had to be on my blog .

I went about figuring out a way to nicely display it. Oh well…I suck at food styling and the lighting was poor as it was quite late in the evening…but I just took whatever pics I could.  My sis-in-law found it funny to serve rice with wine ;-) but this platter below is exactly what we ate with this gorgeous spicy chicken dry roast and it was an awesome combo .

Since I wasn't satisfied with the way the pics came out I wanted to try one last time in a different way and asked mummy  to pose for me holding the dish in hand and she happily obliged :-) 

Kerala style Chicken Dry Roast Recipe

You’ll Need

Chicken with bone (cut into small pieces) – 3 lb or 1.5kg 

Onion (thinly sliced) – 1½  large or 3 medium

Ginger  (thinly sliced and diced) – 2” thick piece

Garlic (thinly sliced and diced) – 4 cloves

Green chillies (sliced) – 3

Tomato (diced into chunks) – 1 large or 2 medium

Corriander powder – 2-3 tblsp

Red Chilli powder – 1-2 tblsp

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Garam Masala – 2 tsp

Salt – to taste

For tempering:

Coconut oil – 2 tblsp

Mustard seeds – 2 tsp

Dry red Chilli – 2-3

Curry leaves – 1 long sprig (8-10 leaves)

For Garnish

Corriander leaves (finely chopped ) – 1 handful

Fresh Coconut (thinly sliced) – 2 tblsp

Directions

1. In a large pan or non-stick kadai, heat the oil and add mustard seeds. Once the seeds crack, add the dry red chillies and curry leaves.

2. Add the sliced onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies and sauté until the onions turn soft and slightly golden brown.

3. Then add the spices – red chilli, coriander and turmeric powder and keep sautéing until the spices blend well  and starts to leave oil from the sides.

4. Now add the tomato pieces and mix well , cook it until the gravy looks deep brown and thick.

5.  Add the garam masala , enough salt to taste and coconut slices and mix again. Then add the chicken pieces and coat it well with the masala gravy and on low flame cover and cook for 15-20mins without adding any water.

6. Keep stirring in between and cook until any water in the gravy thickens to your liking. Check for seasoning.

7. Finally garnish with Corriander leaves and turn off the stove. Let the chicken dry roast rest in the cooked pan covered for another 15mins before serving hot with Rice, Rotis, Naan or Bread.

Tips and Suggestions:

1. Adjust the spices according to your taste and preference. We like it super spicy and hence these measurements.

2. You need not add coconut slices (thenga kothu) if you do not have it or do not like it.

3.  Using coconut oil gives a unique and authentic flavor and aroma , but you can use any vegetable or canola oil.

4. Covering and letting the dish rest after cooking will help blend in all the flavors.

Oh and before I stop for today, I took part in a Food Blogger Bake Sale last Saturday.  I baked up some Cupcakes and Cookies for the charity event. All about that coming up next, so stay tuned.

-Manju

We Knead to Bake #4 : Torcettini di Saint Vincent - sugar crusted yeasted cookies from Valle d'Aosta

I’m part of a lovely baker’s group started by Aparna Balasubramaniam called 'We Knead to Bake'. Our aim is to bake one bread every month for the whole of 2013 as suggested by Aparna and post it on our blogs by 24^th of each month (ya I know I’m late).  I missed the March event due to all my busy packing and home shifting, but dint want to miss the April one…not when it has such a classy name…Lol!

Torcettini di Saint Vincent - doesn't the name just sound classy.  Torcettini are yeasted cookies/biscuits, yes yeasted cookies and not bread. They are almost bread like in texture, but with a crunchy exterior and rather soft flaky interior. They are usually shaped into twisted loops or tear drops and rolled in sugar before baking.

{ These cookies are synonymous with the town of Saint Vincent in Valle d'Aosta, a small mountainous region in North-Western Italy. Torcetti/ Torcettini are believed to have descended from Grissini (breadsticks) which were made from the leftover scraps of bread dough. According to one story, a Grissini baker had some leftover butter which he needed to use up. Inspiration struck and he decided to add the butter to the last batch of his Grissini dough for the day. To be able to differentiate this lot of “breadsticks” from his Grissini, he rolled them in sugar and shaped them into loops, and the Torcetti was born. Torcetti/ Torchettini are usually flavored with lime/ lemon zest or anise } – taken from Aparna’s blog

The bottom of the cookies get a deep brown color after baking 

They were really easy to make, and though it was suggested to let the dough rise from 1hr to 24hrs…I let it rise for 3 hrs and made it the same day. Instead of rolling the twisted dough in plain sugar I sprinkled some cinnamon into the sugar, thus making cinnamon sugar and rolled some in that.

As my parents preferred to have a less sweeter version , I rolled some cookies in plain sesame seeds. We loved both versions.

The cookies tastes best on the same day as they are baked.  They should ideally get a mild brown color but mine dint brown much. If you have eaten Little Hearts biscuits or Plamiers, then that’s somewhat how these cookies would taste. I personally enjoyed the mild flavor from the lemon zest and the subtle sweetness from the sugar. The sesame seeds on the cookies got toasted well and added a lovely crunch. 

And I went crazy taking pics and took quite a lot, so bear with me and hope you like them :-)

Here you see me getting all ready - my yeast is proofing, lemon is zested and flour is mixed with butter. I kept peeking at Aparna’s gorgeous pictures of the torcettini that she baked for inspiration while following the instructions in the recipe she shared :-)  

Torcettini di Saint Vincent

(Adpated from A Baker’s Tour by Nick Malgieri)

You'll need:

1/2 cup warm water, about 45C (110F)

1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (or 1 tsp instant yeast)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp lime/ lemon zest or 1 tsp crushed anise seeds ( I used zest of a full lemon)

40gm 2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

about 1/3 cup granulated sugar for rolling the cookies ( I used cinnamon sugar and sesame seeds)

Directions:

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, in a small bowl and keep aside.

2. Put the flour and the salt in the food processor bowl (or a larger regular bowl if kneading by hand) and pulse a couple of times to mix.

3. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the butter is well mixed and the flour-butter mixture looks powdery.

4. Add the yeast-water mixture and pulse till it all comes together as a ball. Do not over process or knead.

5. Place the ball of dough in a oiled bowl, turning it so it is well coated with the oil. Cover the bowl, and let the dough rise quite a bit. This dough does not really double in volume, but it should look “puffy” after about an hour or so.

6. When you pinch off a bit from the top you can see the interior looking a bit like honeycomb. 

Press down the dough and deflate it, wrap it in cling warp and refrigerate it for at least one hour or up to 24 hours.

7. When ready to make the cookies, take the dough out and lightly roll it out into an approximately 6” square. If the dough feels sticky, scatter a little sugar on it. Using a pizza wheel cut the dough into four strips of equal width. Cut each strip into 6 equal pieces, by cutting across, making a total of 24 pieces. The measurements are not very critical in this part because this just makes it easier to have 24 equal sized bits of dough, as compared to pinching of bits of the dough.

8. Roll each piece into a pencil thick “rope” about 5” long. Sprinkle a little sugar on your work surface and roll the “rope” in it so the sugar crusts the dough uniformly. Form the “rope” into a loop crossing it over before the ends.

9. Place the Torcettini on parchment lined baking sheets, leaving 1 1/2" between them. Leave them for about 20 minutes or so till they rise/ puff up slightly. They will not “puff up” much, like bread, but the “puff” will be visible.

10. Bake them at 160C (325F) for about 25 minutes till they’re a nice golden brown. Cool the cookies completely, on a rack.

Store them in an air-tight container at room temperature. This recipe makes 24 cookies.

Some tips that might make a difference to your Torcettini –

1.  For a variation on these biscuits, you can make them chocolate flavoured.  If making chocolate Torcettini, remove 2 tbsp all-purpose flour and add 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder.  Also add 2 tbsp powdered sugar and replace the lemon zest with orange zest while making the dough.

2.  Once your Torcettini have been shaped, don’t let them rise for longer than 20 minutes. If you do, your Torcettini will more bread-like on the inside due to the extra “rise”.

3.  To make sure the Torcettini dough does not rise for more than 20 minutes, it’s a good idea to work on shaping the 2nd batch while the first batch is in the oven.

4.  If you do not want to use parchment paper, you can grease you cookie sheets and place the shaped Torcettini dough on them directly. Just remember to take them off the sheets while they’re still hot. You will need a spatula to the dislodge them, and do so carefully so they don’t break. Once they’re cool, the caramelised sugar on the Torcettini make them stick to cookie sheets and they become difficult to dislodge without breaking them! 

(All the tips are copied exactly as mentioned in Aparna's blog )

These were really fun to make and my parents actually ate quite a few along with our evening tea. Thanks once again Aparna for such a perfect recipe and unique cookie. Do stop over at Aparna's space to check out what the others have shared.

So until next month's challenge, well we should just wait :-) Have a good day everyone.

-Manju

Chemmeen/Prawn Pollichathu - a guest post by Nisha

Today was quite a nice and warm day. We literally walked outside without a sweater after so many months , ya such simple feats as walking outside freely is a big deal in Minneapolis where the winters can be quite harsh for almost 6 months of the year. For the first time after moving to our new home we took a stroll around the community and met quite a few of our neighbors who were so friendly and eager to come over and say hello to the newcomers :-) Actually we were hot and tired by the time we came back home…and we loved it!

Today I’m going to introduce you all to a very talented blogger and I’m so happy I met her in this virtual world and was even more happy when she agreed to do a guest post for me – Nisha of Look Who’s Cooking Too. Her blog is a galore of a beautiful pictures and interesting recipes. She has a good sense of humour and I love the way she narrates her posts. She is a smart, pretty and friendly girl whom I really hope to meet some day. To pick one favorite dish from her vast collection is quite difficult as I absolutely love everything she shares and can literally spend hours on her blog. So don’t forget to check out her gorgeous space.

Today Nisha has a really interesting naadan dish for us all and I bet this dish is gonna blow your tastebuds away. Chemeen Pollichathu or Masala Prawns cooked in Banana leaf , a very popular Keralite dish!

Manju of Manju's Eating Delights and I don't go a long way back, but it feels like I've known her forever. I only recently started following her blog posts and I must say I'm hooked. We are Facebook friends and needless to say you invariably end up being part of each others food journey and even life. She's a pro at cake decorating (seriously, check out this CarouselCake she made for a birthday) and is a friendly and cheerful person. I hope that some day I get to meet her in person and maybe even taste a dish or two made by her. While she's busy setting up her home, I'm taking over her page today and sharing a lil something I made.

I am not too much of a seafood fan, or should I say, I WAS not a seafood fan, because these days I do indulge in a seafood of choice once in a while. Which is mostly fish that is masala-fried so much it hardly tastes like fish. I know its sacrilegious to even say that, but sadly that's what works. Prawns are a different story altogether. I have never had an aversion to it, well, my husband would roll his eyes at this. But I can usually handle any prawn prep, except when its just boiled, like in a prawn cocktail. Ok fine, you can say I'm a fussy eater and a pseudo foodie :)

Coming to the prawn pollichathu recipe, it’s an absolutely delicious prep and a crowd pleaser. Dont be put off by the crazy list of ingredients, it’s really not that difficult at all. Banana leaves impart that special taste to the whole prep, but I understand that it’s not readily available everywhere. I myself usually just use aluminium foil in its place,  but this time I wanted to give banana leaves a try and had to go all the way to the Indian grocery store to get myself a batch. I cleaned and froze a couple of them in zip lock bags for future use as well. 

Hope you enjoy this mallu dish, and thanks to Manju for having me over at her space.

Prawn/chemmeen pollichathu (serves 2 as side dish)

To marinate

Raw prawns- 250 gms

Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder- a generous pinch

Salt- to taste

For the masala

Coriander powder- 1/2 tsp

Kashmiri chilli powder- 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder- a pinch

Pepper powder- 1/4 tsp

Fenugreek powder- a pinch

Fennel powder- 1/4 tsp

Garam masala- 1/4 tsp (optional)

Ginger-garlic paste- 1 heaped tsp

Oil- 1 tbsp

Shallots- 1/2 cup, finely chopped

Garlic- 5 pods, peeled and roughly chopped

Green chilli- 1, chopped (add more if you want it really spicy)

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves- a sprig

Tomato- 1 medium, finely chopped

Thick coconut milk- 1/4 cup

Salt- to taste

Cookie tray

Banana leaves- to assemble

Twine

Mix together all the ingredients under the "to marinate" section and keep aside while you get the other ingredients ready. (*Refer notes)

In another bowl mix together the first 8 ingredients from the masala section to make a paste. Keep aside.

Heat half of the oil in a kadai and sauté the shallots, garlic and green chilli till the mixture turns light brown. Drain and keep aside.

Add the remaining oil (and a bit more if required) and splutter mustard seeds, followed by curry leaves.

Add the masala paste that you had previously mixed into the oil and sauté till the raw smell disappears. Be careful, as it may vigorously splutter.

Tip in the pre-cooked onion mix, tomatoes and salt and sauté till the mix becomes mushy and the oil starts separating. Keep cooking this on medium heat.

Pour in the coconut, bit by bit, and stir it into the masala.

Once it turns to a semi-gravy like consistency, add the prawns and mix it into the masala.

Cook the mix till the prawn is done, around 8 to 10 minutes. Be careful to not over cook the prawns which can make them rubbery.

The prawns will let out water. If there is still loads of water even after the prawns are cooked, remove the prawns from the masala, increase the heat to high and dry it off. The mix should not be watery, but like I said before, a semi gravy-like consistency.

Once the desired consistency is achieved, turn off the heat and keep aside.

Assembling:

Preheat the oven to 100C.

Layer the banana leaf on a cookie tray and place in the oven till wilted, around 10 minutes. This is done to make the leaves pliable to fold. Traditionally the leaves are just run through heat, on the stove top. But I have an electric glass hob and that wasn't possible, so I wilted them in the oven. Its not as perfectly done as the stove top method, but serves the purpose.

Take the leaves out of the oven and increase oven heat to 175C.

On to the leaf place the prawns (the ones that you removed from the masala) and top it with the reduced masala.

If the leaf is big enough, then fold it over and tie it with a twine. If its not big enough, then place another leaf on top and fold over the sides to make a parcel. Tie with the string.

Place the tray with the parcel back into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes.

Once done, take it out and after about 5 minutes open the parcel to reveal delicious, aromatic prawn pollichathu. Enjoy with rice or as a side to drinks.

Notes: 

You can follow the same recipe for any firm fish like pomfret, king fish or tilapia.

*The whole point of marinating the fish is to fry them before layering. I did it with good intentions, but time constraints meant I head to skip the step only to realise that it was not really needed in the first place. So by all means avoid the marination. The only advantage I can see is the frying gets rid of all the water content from the prawn and so when making the masala, the extra step of evaporating the water from the masala can be avoided.

If you can’t find banana leaves, use aluminium foil in its place.

Oil might seep out from the leaf. So you may want to line the tray with some baking paper or foil.

If you are using pre-cooked prawns, it would require even lesser cooking time.

You can replace tomato with 1/2 tsp of tomato paste.

I have only tried preparing this dish with fish , so when I was asked to chose which dish she should share for you all, I was simply excited about the Prawn pollichathu. Doesn't it look simply awesome...can't wait to give it a try soon. Thank you so much dear Nisha for such a lovely guest post.

Have a great weekend you guys and as for us, this weekend is blessed with good climate, so we are definitely not planning to sit a single minute at home as we are gonna fully enjoy the good weather we got after sooooo many months :-) See you all again soon.

-Manju